Lesley Land

  We've had a lot of rain over the last week. Yesterday it finally was clear and I walked around the yard to check stuff out. I came across the above sprouts. What was strange about it was not just that it is sort of a circle, but there was a mound of dirt in the middle that the plants were growing around. This one was right on a clear path with no other plants growing on it and I have no idea where the mound of dirt came from. Also, the plants look nothing like anything else sprouting on our property. There are plenty of weeds sprouting right now, but I am familiar with all our normal weeds and those don't look like any of them. Walking on about 12 feet I came across another one!  Again, I know it is hard to tell from the photos, but a mound of dirt in the center with the plants growing around it. Then about 20 feet away I came across a third one. Another mound and these ones are actually growing on stone steps, although, there is dirt that has blown onto them, but not sure h...

  I actually started my garden nearly a month ago planting seedlings. Of course, I have to buy plants too because I don't have the patience to grow everything from seeds. Above is a strawberry plant I found that has the cutest pink flowers!  I am growing a few plants this year that I have never grown before. Onions, cantaloupe, pumpkins, bok choy and a plant I happened across called pineapple ground cherries. I didn't know what that was when I bought it, but after looking it up online I went back and bought another because it sounds delicious!  Both are doing well and already have lots of berry pods!  Of course, as always lots of peppers. Although, no bell peppers this year they just never yield much for me. Also, no NM green chile because it is so plentiful at the stores during harvest time and I can buy it already roasted. It is just too hot to roast my own chile in August! This year is cayenne, jalapeno and serrano peppers. I am looking forward to making tabasco s...

 I know I haven't posted my last couple boxes, not because they weren't good, but because I am lazy. Anyhow I just had to post how much I love this garden/kitchen witch apron this month! Although I would love all my clothes to have pockets they don't or sometimes aren't big enough and this is the perfect fill in for pockets! I don't care for the over the head sort of aprons, but this little bar apron is perfect for harvesting plants or cooking! 

 Gardens are great, but you do end up with more than you can eat even with a small garden like mine. So today I had to do some preserving for later.  I had planned to make pickles, so I could have made the brine last night for it to chill, but of course that didn't cross my mind so I made it today and had to wait for it to chill a bit. In the mean time I made brunch for us and made Brit a smoothie. Then I decided to shred my zucchini for freezing. I have the magical salad shooter that make it really easy. I did two zucchinis and ended up with 3 cups shredded. Then you just squeeze as much water as possible out of them and pop into a freezer bag so you can use in the future for bread or stir fry. I like to write on the bag how many cups are in it.  Then I noticed that I had one lone NM chile, so I got some tomatoes, onion, cilantro and lime and made some pico. I also chopped extra onion for my pickles later and then totally forgot to add it to my pickles! Not a big deal, c...

Probably about half my garden consists of peppers.  Serrano is doing great!  Jalapeno was slow, but now I have about 7 little babies!  Thai pepper are slow to turn red, but there are lots of them!  NM Chiles are doing super well and were the first to have babies. Still waiting for the purple bell pepper to get any sort of baby. I've never had much luck with bells for some reason. The reason I like growing peppers so much isn't for the pepper really. I can buy peppers pretty cheap at any market. The leaves are really why I grow them, they are great in salads and stir fry! Of course, the peppers don't go to waste either! 

I went out to check my garden today only to find my Mr. Stacky planter had blown over in the heavy winds last night! Thankfully only one plant had actually come out of its pot and there was only a bit of soil lost that I replaced. It seems fine now that it is back upright. It was probably mostly my fault since the ground is not completely level where I have it (or pretty much anywhere in my yard).  As you can maybe see from the photos, my kale and herbs (especially cilantro and lemon balm) are super happy! I still have one stack left that could be planted, but with it blowing over last night I am not sure about doing that. The top would totally be spilled out all over if there had been anything in there. Also, I kept a heavy metal garden sculpture with a heavy solid glass ball (it must weigh close to 5 lbs) in the top to try to keep it from blowing over!  Oh, and the top photo of this post is my mulberry tree! It is just full of berries! I am so happy because there were very f...

 Happily at least some of my seeds have sprouted! Not a lot so far, but my container zucchini (I almost always have good luck with that), container eggplant and arugula. I've never grown arugula before and haven't in the past much luck with eggplant, but we'll see how it goes. I am hoping more seeds will eventually sprout. In the meantime, I bought this niffy "Mr Stacky" 5 tier planter which I am filling with herbs and small plants. So far, sweet basil, thai basil, cilantro, lemon balm and a couple succulents. There is also something called pineapple sage, but I will be moving that tomorrow because I didn't realize it grows to 3 feet tall! I also planted a few herbs in the yard, echinacea (purple cornflower), chamomile, which I've never had much luck with, but love the dainty little flowers and the smell. Also, Bee Balm which I had luck with in the past for a few years, but that was with daily watering. I put it in a shadier spot this time and hope it won...

Last year my seedlings didn't come up. I have a feeling that had something to do with me. Last Spring was a confusing time, COVID was a new thing that came and changed our lives and so many things about it were unknown then. Anyhow, I am sure that I probably watered too much or not enough or did something wrong!  I was unsure if I would try again this Spring, but I guess I feel more hopeful and so today I started my seeds in their little greenhouses. Hopefully, they will decide to sprout for me this year! If so, it will be mainly a container garden. The soil in my yard is just too hard for me to dig into and most of the places that aren't full sun all day don't have enough space to lay out a garden. Seed packets often say the plant likes "full sun," but I know for a fact that does not mean New Mexico full sun because I have never had a plant grow in full sun!  Oh, and I am scheduled for my first COVID shot on Monday. I'll admit that as much as I want this shot...